Ons toets die wasmasjien Maandag.

We test the washing machine on Monday.

Breakdown of Ons toets die wasmasjien Maandag.

• ons: we
• die wasmasjien: the washing machine
• toets: to test
• Maandag: Monday

Questions & Answers about Ons toets die wasmasjien Maandag.

What does ons mean here?

Here, ons means we because it is the subject of the sentence.

A useful extra point: ons can also mean us or our in other contexts, but in Ons toets ... it clearly means we.

Why is the verb toets not changing?

In Afrikaans, verbs usually do not change form for different subjects in the present tense.

So you get:

• ek toets = I test
• jy toets = you test
• ons toets = we test

That is much simpler than English, where you sometimes get forms like tests.

What does die mean here?

Die means the.

Afrikaans uses die as the definite article for:

• singular nouns
• plural nouns
• all grammatical genders

So unlike some other languages, you do not have to learn different forms of the for masculine, feminine, or neuter nouns.

Why is wasmasjien written as one word?